Metro bus projects in Faisalabad, Multan during next fiscal: CM

LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that metro bus projects will be launched in the cities of Multan and Faisalabad during the upcoming fiscal year. He also said that target of 8 percent growth rate would be achieved during the next four years and that a strategy has been evolved to create 1 million new jobs annually.According to a handout, the chief minister expressed these views while presiding over a high-level meeting to review the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the 2014-15 fiscal. The Planning and Development Board chairman gave a detailed briefing on salient features of the ADP. Ministers, special assistants, assembly members, chief secretary, secretaries and other officials concerned were present. The chief minister said that maximum resources would be allocated in the new budget for the development of backward areas. He said that revolutionary measures were being taken for the improvement of tax collection system. He said that more funds would be allocated for the uplift of the people of south Punjab. He said that the provincial government would set up coal and solar power projects with its own resources and that coal plants would be established in Rahim Yar Khan and Muzaffargarh. He said that a comprehensive programme had been evolved for energy conservation. Chief Minister Shahbaz also said that information technology laboratories would be set up in elementary schools while laptops would continue to be given to talented students of matriculation in the next financial year as well. He said that digital libraries would be set up across the province. He said that priorities in the ADP were being set in a realistic manner so that targets of rapid development could be achieved and benefits of development projects could reach the masses. He stressed the need to pay more attention to value addition for the uplift of livestock, dairy development and other food security sectors. The chief minister said that strenuous efforts would have to be made to achieve the targets and that departments and institutions associated with social sectors would have to be run in a professional manner.Meanwhile, a delegation led by Danish Ambassador Jesper Moller Sorensen and consisting of officials of a prominent Danish company in the field of wind energy, VESTAS, called on Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Wednesday.According to a handout, matters relating to cooperation in generation of energy through alternative resources, particularly wind, were discussed during the meeting.Chief Minister Shahbaz said that Denmark had expertise and experience in production of wind energy and that the Punjab government wanted to benefit from Danish technology in this regard. He said that the Danish company should carry out mapping of feasible sites for launching wind energy projects. He said that the Punjab government would extend maximum cooperation to the Danish company with regard to wind energy projects.Ambassador Sorensen said that cooperation would be extended to the Punjab government with regard to launching wind energy projects. VESTAS Chief Operating Officer Danny Nielsen said that his company was working in a number of countries. He said that vast opportunities for generating energy through wind existed in Pakistan and that his company was willing to work with the Punjab government in this connection. Industries Minister Muhammad Shafique, additional chief secretary (energy) and other officials concerned were present. CM condemns suicide attack: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has condemned the suicide attack on a vehicle of security forces on Fateh Jang Road on Wednesday. According to a handout, the chief minister took immediate notice of the incident and sought a report from the inspector general of Punjab Police. The chief minister expressed sorrow and grief over the martyrdom of two lieutenant colonels and other security personnel and sympathised with the bereaved families. The chief minister said that the entire nation was proud of such brave soldiers. He said that Lt Col Arshad Husain and Lt Col Muhammad Zahir had laid down their lives for the country and that supreme sacrifices made by the Pakistan Army in war against terrorism would always be remembered. CM takes notice of police torture on cultivator: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of police torture on a cultivator in Chaubara and sought a report from the Layyah district police officer. According to a handout, the chief minister directed that immediate legal action be initiated against police personnel responsible for torturing a cultivator in public. He said that such incidents were unacceptable in a civilised society. He also assured that justice would be provided to the victim.